


The shadow to your light

by Skydancer8



Series: NCT One-shots [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 127, Inferiority, Neglection, One-Shot, Overworking, Sad, haechan-centric, heatstroke, nct - Freeform, sick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 22:12:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17609981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skydancer8/pseuds/Skydancer8
Summary: Where Haechan feels inferior to Mark when they are in with NCT 127-and perhaps slightly jealous of all the attention the latter getsorIt takes a shocking incident for the 127 members to realize that Haechan is definitely not well.





	The shadow to your light

Panting echoed throughout the whole practice room.

"I think we need to repeat that part again" Taeyong said in a clear voice, his tone etched with exhaustion.

NCT 127 were no longer in their comfort zone. A new comeback was nearing and there were new monster rookies from other big companies coming their way. The new era brought on new diets and new concepts they tried to fit in with. Their schedules were filled with practices that lasted for hours at a time with shorter breaks.

Haechan would do anything for a break.

The last few days had been a struggle, with him running back and forth between Dream and 127 while both were in comeback season. He missed the times he and Mark would take off together, laughing out of exhilaration. Now, only his footsteps could be heard pattering down the hallway to the Dream's practice room.

"Haechan, you're a step too far away from Johnny" the choreographer pointed out, and Haechan nodded, swallowing heavily. He swayed slightly as they went back to their last positions, limbs moving out of instinct rather than will. His mouth felt like the Sahara dessert, every swallow burning his throat as if his own saliva were acid. 

The thought of food, however, made his stomach churn uncomfortably. He had eaten little to no food at all for the week, his appetite leaving him to be replaced by the high of practicing. That was probably a bad sign, but Haechan took no thought about it.

Mark had been in 3 units last year, so why should he be complaining?

Johnny barreled into Haechan from behind, knocking him to all-fours. The music stopped and the whole band sighed in exasperation. In simple words, Haechan had been giving his worst for the whole day. His body wouldn't cooperate and the room felt hotter than usual. He scrambled too his feet, almost falling back down, eyes downcast. He mumbled a small apology before they returned to their earlier formation.

"Keep up, Donghyuck, you're dragging us down" Taeyong muttered loud enough for him to hear.

_Oh-? He used his real name?_

Suddenly aware of the tension in the room, Haechan felt his confident facade shrink, replaced by a frightened boy that entered SM at a tender age. A boy who feared every gaze and thought of those around him.

The music started again and Haechan struggled to focus on counting the music, having to move twice as fast as the others with his ever changing position (since he had a small amount of lines and mainly danced in their songs) and sharp footsteps.

Occasionally, his focus would slip and he's bump into others. He could feel their stares burning his back. He was messing up too much, burdening them with overtime practice. 

"I think that's enough. We've wasted too much time on this part. Tomorrow, it better be clear" 

There was a brief rumble of low toned 'Yes, sir' before the choreographer walked out the building. Almost immediately, as if they were connected by a telepathic link, everyone turned to face Haechan, eyes burning with annoyance.

"You better clear your head and stop playing around" Yuta said in a low voice. "We don't have all day"

"Yuta," Doyoung murmured , and the latter scowled and walked out.

"I don't disagree with Yuta, though-" Johnny shrugged and took Mark by the arm. "You must be tired, should we head back to the dorms?"

Mark gave a low sigh and smiled knowingly. "Well, I practice went on longer than we thought, right?"

"Well, you're still full of energy after that!" Jaehyun praised and ruffled Mark's hair. "I heard you're busy producing the other songs for our album"

"Our hardworking Mark"

"Golden boy Mark"

"Genius Mark"

They kept on laughing together, not breaking the chain of teasing while walking out the door. Haechan stood, passive, biting his lip to keep the tears welling in his eyes from falling. They seemed perfect, an OT9 that should have a talented maknae who didn't mess up and used talent to be called 'maknae on top'.

"How stupid of me to think I'd be part of them" Haechan whispered to himself.

He glanced at his watch, heaving a long sigh. Wiping non-existant sweat, he made a dash for the Dream's practice room where he had yet another song to practice. Every move brought cramping pains throughout his body, every step increasing the dizziness that threatened to make his knees buckle. Finally unable to take it anymore, he made a U-turn and stumbled into the toilet. Hands gripping the toilet seat tightly, he puked out the small amount of food he consumed. When he could force out nothing more than saliva from his throat, his body lurched forward but brought nothing out of his stomach.

Finally persuading his body that there was nothing left, he rested is head on the toilet seat, breathing shallowly. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears, too fast to be normal. His head throbbed painfully as he stood up, reaching for the wall for support. There was no way he could make it to practice.

_What would Mark do? Had he ever been in this situation?_

Haechan smiled bitterly. Probably not. The dude had enough energy to power up a windmill. Slowly, painfully, he hobbled up to the dorms.

 

 

It was empty.

There was no one in there. 

Haechan's heart clenched as he thought of them going out together without telling him. Not even asking him if he wanted anything. He felt sudden pain in his chest as the thought of finally being too much of a nuisance to the point of neglect by his bandmates poisoned his mind.

The weather was to hot, and Haechan felt his skin burning. Yet, the hours of practice brought no droplets of sweat to his skin. His heartbeat pounded louder in his ears as he swayed while walking towards his room. He just had to get to bed and fall asleep. He was just tired, so tired, and needed rest. He wasn't as good as Mark, and couldn't keep up with his hectic schedule anymore. He was a failure of an idol, in his mind, someone who shouldn't be in more than one unit.

Failure burned his mind.

His legs buckled and he fell to the floor heavily, head connecting hard with the tiles. It enhanced the throbbing behind his eyes and brought white to his vision. His heartbeat sounded like a drum in his ears. He couldn't get up, not with his limbs feeling like dead weights. Was there a fire around him? Was he breathing in smoke that scorched his tongue and throat? 

Haechan let a single tear fall from his eye and slide to the side before dripping to the floor. His vision tunneled and went black.

 

 

_Doyoung-hyung, Haechan didn't make it to practice._

_sent 18:36 pm_

 

Doyoung squinted at the message Jeno had sent him. That was weird... Haechan was supposed to be with them-

He looked around at the members who were all walking to the ice cream store. In his mind, he head counted them.

_1...5...8??? Oh wait, I didn't count myself...9?_

"Guys, I think I have to head back to the dorm" Doyoung raised his voice. Everyone turned to stare at him.

Taeyong spoke up first. "Do...you want anything?"

Doyoung shook his head. "I think I want to check up on Donghyuck. He didn't make it to Dream's practice. He looked sick since this morning."

Taeyong nodded and look at the group. "In that case, I'm going too."

In the end, the whole group did a turn and walked back to the dorm. Everyone had realized that Haechan had seemed under the weather, but the boys silence and lack of attention-seeking made them think he was simply under the pressure of an idol. 

Doyoung walked faster than the others, only Taeil, Jungwoo, Mark and Taeyong being able to keep up with his pace.

"I think you have to calm down" Jungwoo said softly but Doyoung shook his head. Guilt crept into his heart, intertwining with worry and making him panic. He should have said something to defend Haechan, to make him feel better. They had all been too caught up in the high of practice and perfection until they neglected him. NCT U weren't even in comeback season since WayV had just finished their promotion.

He pushed open the 127 dorms' door and walked in, eyes looking around. His mouth opened to call out Haechan's name when he saw a figure sprawled on the ground.

"Oh My God, Hyuck!" Doyoung cried out and ran to the fallen member. Taeyong passed by him and reached Haechan first, flipping the boy over and leaning him on his chest. The boy made no sign that he was conscious.

Jungwoo patted Haechan's cheek lightly. "Hey, Hyuckie, wake up"

Mark knelt down and pressed his palm to Haechan's forehead before retracting quickly with a hiss. "I don't think this is normal, hyung"

Taeyong felt Haechan's body temperature too, gritting his teeth. "Yuta, Johnny, I need you to call the management and cancel all schedules today and tomorrow. Taeil, the medic kit is on the third shelf. Go get it!"

Doyoung was feeling Haechan's pulse, racking his brain to figure out what was going on. He brushed the dry strands of hair from Haechans' forehead.

_Dry_

_Dry_

_Dry_

"We need to get him to the bathroom!" Doyoung blurted out, attempting to lift Haechan himself but Johnny put a steady hand on his shoulder.

"What's going on? What have you figured out?" he asked in a calm but commanding voice.

Doyoung met Taeyong's eyes. "I think it's a heatstroke. We need to bring his temperature down-"

"The shower!" Mark exclaimed and scrambled to the bathroom. 

Johnny took Haechan out of Taeyongs' arms and lifted him to the bathroom where they set him on the floor, leaning against the wall. Jungwoo gently pulled off Haechan's shirt and draped a towel over his bare shoulder and chest. Mark knelt beside him and used the shower head to spray water on the towel to slowly dampen it while keeping Haechan's skin cool.

"Come on, Hyuckie, wake up" Mark called gently, eyes filled with worry.

When Jungwoo looked at Mark, he only saw love in Mark's eyes. Love only reserved for his best friend, a love he had not openly shown due to his personality.

But it was Marks' voice that made Haechans' eyes flutter open, instantly fixed on his best friends. His lips stretched into a smile, even though his eyes were drooped.

"Hey, Markie~" he said in a weak voice. 

"Hey Hyuckie" Mark replied in a gentle voice, "You stay awake, okay? We need you too take some meds or Taeyong will come over and slap you awake"

Haechan groaned uncomfortably. "But I want to go to sleep"

"Well you can't"

His eyes moved to his chest and he laughed softly. "I'm shirtless, and you're giving me a shower?"

Mark shrugged and moved the shower head to Haehans' shoulders. "You're heated up, Hyuck. You're not well enough"

"The ambulance is here"  WinWin called and Mark gathered Haechan in his arms, not caring that his shirt was getting wet. 

"You know-" Haechan whispered as Mark carried him out. "I was always jealous of you"

Mark stopped in his tracks. "Why?"

"Because I'm not good enough to be the maknae" He replied with a grim tone. "I should have never been in 127. I should've stayed with the other 00 liners."

Mark blinked the tears out of his eyes. "You, Lee Donghyuck, are perfect. Don't you ever deny that ever again or I will rant until your ears bleed."

"I wouldn't mind that" Haechan laughed and leaned his head on Marks' shoulder. "I missed you Mark Lee"

 

 

There was no complications to his organs, but it could have turned out much worse. Haechan's schedule was reorganized so he had more space to rest. The rest of 127 decided to do their job.

_"Come here you ball of SUNSHINE!!!"_

_"Cute little Pudu~"_

_"What's a Pudu?"_

_"You'll know later, Sicheng."_

_"HEY!!! WHO WANTS SOME ICECREAM?!!!"_

_"Me!!!"_

_"Points on me!"_

_"Hyung~Ihave vocal practice later on"_

_"Doyoung?"_

_"I'm gonna contact our manager for a reschedule"_

_"Hyung, that's cheating!"_

_"Anything for our beloved maknae"_

 

Let's just say, things got a lot better in the end.

 

_"So...what did you talk about in the bathroom that day?"_

_"Hyung!"_

_"HYUNG!!!!!"_

_"What? What do you think I meant? I have pictures of it-GIVE ME BACK MY PHONE!!!"_

_"AHAHAHAHAHA NO HYUNG!!!"_

_"BOOMING SYSTEM-U- UP!!! TY TRACK! TY TRACK!"_

_"YOU LITTLE-"_

 

Yeah...that's a pretty accurate conclusion.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I like reading comments and be sure to leave kudo's!!!


End file.
